1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for severing wire windings which are uncooled and not tolerance-adhering from the beginning and end of a rolling line conveyed over a Stelmor plant or comparable wire winding conveying systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
The range of dimensions of products of modern wire trains includes wire diameters of 5.0 to 25 mm with a range of final rolling speeds of between 120 and about 20 m/s. For adjusting the required structural properties, Stelmor speeds during cooling of between 0.1 m/s and about 1.2 m/s are necessary. In accordance with the final rolling speed which depends on the diameter, different placement densities of between 25 and 300 windings per meter result on the Stelmor conveyor or comparable wire winding conveying system.
In the case of thin wire dimensions and high final rolling speeds, the beginnings and ends of the rolled strand remain uncooled during rolling for reasons of preventing failures. The same is also true in the case of thick wire dimensions of, for example, 25 mm for ensuring that the windings are safely deposited. In addition, depending on the number of passes in the finishing block, for example, in the case of 2 to 10 passes, a certain length of the rolled strand is required at the beginning and end outside of the required dimensional tolerances. Consequently, the windings which are not cooled and are not tolerance-adhering, must be removed prior to compacting and binding the coil.
In accordance with the prior art, this is done at the coil beginning on the hook-type conveyor, specifically at the open hook side. Severing at the coil end is more difficult because this still requires a manual operation and each winding must be individually severed and removed. At temperatures of between 400.degree. and 500.degree. C., this results in extremely unfavorable and difficult work conditions for persons working at this location. On the one hand, this work is very labor intensive and, on the other hand, the work is very difficult because of the heat and heavy physical labor.